Holding my breath

For a little more than four months the apartment next to mine was empty. The father and two kids that previously occupied the unit rarely made enough noise for me to hear anything coming through the one shared wall. That is how it should be.

The vacancy wasn't going to last forever, but you better believe I had been enjoying the little bit of extra quiet. I wasn't overjoyed to see someone (or someones) moving in yesterday, but it was inevitable that the apartment would eventually be rented.

It should be noted that aside from those who live below me slamming their door too often for my taste, I've been satisfied with the lack of noise in the other five apartments in this unit during what is now the start of my fourth year here. Worrier that I am, I fear that the relative silence may be coming to an end.

It started last night. Sometimes I sleep on the futon in my living room because the sun pokes through the blinds in my bedroom and into my eyes too early. Such was the case Thursday night. At 3:20 a.m. I was awakened by a barking dog in, you guessed it, my new neighbor's place. That was followed by someone opening and closing the door a few times. Seriously? Eventually the dog quit barking, and I fell back asleep.

Early this evening my neighbor (or neighbors) cranked their stereo so that the subwoofer was audible in every corner of my place. *%@! That low frequency thump is enough to drive me crazy. It did come down some to a level that, if not pleasing to me, is more like a steady rumble in the background than a pulse invading my head. I hate to say that if that's as noisy as it gets, I can deal with it, but it may be the consolation I have to make. The occupant (or one of them) would appear to be someone who likes it loud. His car has an aftermarket muffler that's more like an amplifier--it sends additional noise out the tailpipe--so I'm steeling myself for what I may now have to live with.

One of my hopes is that this new resident or residents will become aware of what kind of volume emanating from the apartment is appropriate. Having been in a bad situation before, I'm not optimistic on that count but we'll see. My other hope is that the people living on the other side and below will make their complaints heard if it comes to that. I certainly don't want to be the lone griper if it comes to me needing to do that.

I've been looking forward to getting out of town for vacation in the near future. That excitement may have increased due to this development. If the noise becomes a regular problem, my knitting productivity may return to what it was in my early knitting days, although I'd rather not return to that situation again.